Online Auctions Sites

Many people are enticed by the lucrative opportunities on online auctions–but which one is right for you? Check out our master list of online auctions. Note: not all online auctions listed are available for private sales. Ex) IRS, Police, or Municipal auctions do not allow private citizens to sell on their auctions.

eBay

We will start with one of the most well known and popular sites: eBay. There is an enormous variety of items for sale and 162 million users on the site. Moreover, there are more potential buyers but also more competition among sellers.

eBay is a leader among other online auction platforms. It has developed an easy to use interface for both buyers and sellers, allowing for listing customization, live chats, feedback, high-quality customer service compared to other sites and useful search filters. Many features allow both buyers and sellers to achieve better experiences with their platform. It is also one of the safest options. There are a variety of accepted payment methods, including credit cards, as well as a safer and preferred option, Paypal.

Be aware of eBay’s high fees! As a seller, you are allotted 50 free listings then pay a 30 cent fee for each additional listing. There is also a fee costing 10% of the sale price plus shipping. As you do more business you will incur more fees, such as a fee for more pictures, and hosting web stores. Specific upgrades such as bold font to feature a listing is available for an extra fee as well.

iOffer

iOffer is another large online auction database with over 1 million members and an easily navigatable and attractive looking interface.

The site is also secure, using pay pal to protect buyers and sellers alike. Be cautious as a buyer using iOffer. Reviews for this site show that there is little help by iOffer when independent sellers scam with fake tracking numbers, and never send the items purchased.

However, fees are still an issue for this site. Selling fees are 5% or less if the item sold for $100. In addition, there are fees for using brand names and some specific keywords in your listing title, which is crucial to selling your product. Nonetheless, the fees are less than eBay.

Listia

Listia doesn’t use cash! This site sells everything in cryptocurrency, their own monetary credits called ink. Ink can be earned from selling items on the site, referring friends, and connecting to various social media. Moreover, Listia is essentially “free” since you are using ink instead of cash.

Unfortunately, sellers have had difficulty using their ink since it is not easily converted into cash. Listia does accept ink transfers to and from other accounts and marketplaces that use ink instead of cash.

Although the cryptocurrency can be hard to understand and use at first, it is a fun way to experiment with online auctions without any monetary risk.

Web Store

Web Store is one of the few online auctions with no fees. Web Stores is able to sustain themselves through advertisements. Although, they may seem distracting, just remember they are saving you money.

Despite lacking a resolution center for issues between buyers and sellers, they have a high fraud protection rate of about 99%. There are review, blocking, and favoriting features that allows you to evaluate buyers and sellers and the ability to decide future interaction.

Although Web Store has a smaller user base, and a less sophisticated platofrm compared to sites like eBay, it is an up and coming site for online auctions.

Auction Warehouse

Auction Warehouse has one of the best online interfaces but only operates in the United States. Furthermore, the interface allows for free, and safe bidding and listing, but only accepts payment by credit cards.

There is a small user base on the site and the simplicity of the interface makes it hard to sell. We recommend buying enhancements that featuring your listing in order to sell your items.

Atomic Mall

This is one of the largest auction sites and displays its site in a fun and interactive way. Although, it appears less professional. The galactic themed interface has multiple different scoring systems to evaluate sellers.

Purchases can be made with a large variety of ways, including Amazon Payments, Dwolla, Bitcoin, and the more common Paypal and credit card.

There are fees for verification as well as a percentage of each transaction based on the final value. However, each account received a $10 credit with offsets the verification fee when an account is created.

Charity Auctions Today

This site is perfect for the novice user trying to set up an online auction to support their school, nonprofit, or charity.

The platform allows each user to customize their auction page and share it via social media. The auction appears professional and gains high traffic.

The convenience comes with a 5% or less commission fee, depending on the plan you sign up for, and charges a 2.2% plus.30 cent fee for each transaction using a credit card. Luckily, all the fees can be passed onto the buyer, meaning they will be forced to pay the commission and credit card transaction fee if they have the winning bid.

OnlineAuction.com

Although Online Auctions doesn’t offer a sophisticated platform, it increases the seller’s opportunity to make more profit with a no-bid snapping feature. This feature will extend the auction time by two minutes if multiple bids are received in the last minute of the offer, allowing more time for a bidding war.

In addition, there are no final value or listing fees, instead, there is a monthly fee depending on your membership type. A verified Buyer can make more bids for $4 a month. To sell the basic plan costs $8 a month but the Founding Member status provides sellers with $300 worth of enhancements for a cost of $196 a year.

The site also offers fewer restrictions compared to other sites and encourages sellers to link to there own stores and social media.

eBid

eBid has a huge marketplace, second only to eBay, plus its fees are significantly less. Payment options are limited to PPPay, PayPal, Google Wallet, Skrill (Moneybookers). Still, eBid has significantly higher seller reviews than the other smaller sites listed as an alternative to eBay.

eBid guarantees a maximum of only 3% fee. The Seller+ plan allows sellers to list and sell for without fees in for a one time cost of £99.98. There are other limited time and cheaper payment options for the Seller+including a 7 day period for £1.99 only.

Bonanza

Set up is easy and stress-free. The site guides you through each step and even allows you to quickly upload products for sale on other platforms/online auctions.

This tool allows you to manage inventory sold across other stores, including Etsy, eBay, and Amazon. You are also given access to consumer traffic reports and the ability to give coupons.

Bonanza has possibly the best customer service available and is very user-friendly. To enhance credibility, sellers need ten positive feedback comments before using direct checkout.

There are no seller verification fees and it is free to list and relist. The only fee is a final value fee of 3.5% limited by a minimum of .50 cents and a maximum of $250.

eCRATER

While customization is limited there are no subscription or verification fees. You can ensure final value fees if eCRATER helped you receive a sale through the main marketplace, resuting in a 2.9% fee. It is optional to sell on the main marketplace but you will receive more traffic.

There is not a large user base, and shipping is limited to the United States. Sellers are able to import items for sale on eBay and buyers report that it is easy to navigate the site.